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Divinyls
Divinyls were an Australian rock band that was formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school uniform and fishnet stockings, and often used an illuminated neon tube as a prop for displaying aggression towards both band members and the audience. Originally a five-piece, the band underwent numerous line-up changes, with Amphlett and McEntee remaining as core members, before its dissolution in 1996. In May 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations, named "Science Fiction" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time. The band was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2006 and in late 2007 Amphlett and McEntee reconvened to record a new single and begin working on a new album. The band played a short series of live gigs in Australia in late 2007 and early 2008. DiVinyls broke up in 2009 and Amphlett died in 2013. In December 2018, McEntee announced he would be reforming the Divinyls for an Australian tour in early 2019, with Lauren Ruth Ward replacing Amphlett.Divinyls Reform for Australia Tour in 2019. The Rockpit, 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018. On 6 February 2019, the tour was cancelled. Formation and albums Divinyls released five studio albums—four placed in the Top 10 Australian chart, while one (Divinyls) reached No. 15 in the United States (US) and No. 33 for 3 weeks in Canada. Their biggest-selling single "I Touch Myself" (1990) achieved a No. 1 ranking in Australia, No. 4 in the US, No. 10 in the United Kingdom (UK), and No. 13 in Canada. Amphlett was the cousin of 1960s Australian pop icon Patricia "Little Pattie" Amphlett, who had been married to Keith Jacobsen—younger brother of pioneer rocker Col Joye and leading promoter Kevin Jacobsen. In her autobiography Pleasure and Pain (2005), Amphlett described breaking into the music scene from the age of fourteen, being arrested for busking when seventeen and travelling in Spain, and how her performances drew upon childhood pain. Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee were introduced by Jeremy Paul (ex-Air Supply) in the car park of a small music venue in Collaroy, Sydney, after Amphlett and Paul had finished a gig with their then band, Batonrouge. Amphlett and McEntee met again at the Sydney Opera House where Amphlett and Paul were singing in a choral concert in 1980. They recruited keyboardist Bjarne Ohlin later in 1980 and drummer Richard Harvey in 1981, respectively, and for almost two years they performed in pubs and clubs in Sydney's Kings Cross. During this time, Paul negotiated publishing and recording agreements that led to the band signing with WEA. Australian film director Ken Cameron saw Divinyls performing in a club. This led to them providing the soundtrack for his 1982 film Monkey Grip and also gave Amphlett, Paul and McEntee supporting roles in the movie. The group released two singles from the soundtrack, Music from Monkey Grip EP, "Boys in Town", which reached No. 8 on the national singles chart, and "Only Lonely". The band was the opening act at the 1983 US Festival. After the band's initial success, original manager and bassist Jeremy Paul left. He was replaced on bass, briefly by Ken Firth (ex-The Ferrets) and more permanently by Rick Grossman (ex-Matt Finish). Grossman left in 1987 to replace Clyde Bramley in Hoodoo Gurus. By early 1988, Divinyls consisted of Amphlett and McEntee with augmentation by additional musicians when recording or touring. Over the decade Divinyls released four albums, Music from Monkey Grip EP on WEA in 1982, Desperate on Chrysalis Records in 1983, What a Life! in 1985 and Temperamental in 1988. The latter two albums were also released by Chrysalis in the US. They had hit singles in Australia with, "Science Fiction" No. 13 in 1983, "Good Die Young" No. 32 in 1984 and "Pleasure and Pain" which was written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman (The Best, Love Is A Battlefield) and went No. 1 in 1985. Their later manager Vince Lovegrove organised Divinyls' transfer from WEA to Chrysalis and their first tours of United States. They established a fan base there, without achieving major commercial success. Divinyls also had Australian hits with cover versions of The Easybeats' "I'll Make You Happy", and Syndicate of Sound's "Hey Little Boy" ("Hey Little Girl" with the gender switched) which reached No. 25 in 1988. Amphlett became a controversial and highly visible celebrity for her brash, overtly sexual persona and subversive humour in lyrics, performances and media interviews. Image transformation At the start of their popularity, Divinyls were considered to be a hard rock band. At some point many fans referred to Amphlett as the female Angus Young, as both had similar mannerisms on stage and wore black-and-white school uniforms while performing in the early 1980s. The band's image gradually changed after the release of the What A Life! album when the band began wearing elaborate clothing and producing more songs in the pop music genre. By the time of the release of their Temperamental album, Divinyls' image had changed to a glamour fashion style where they produced modern pop music. 1990s: Divinyls duo In 1991 Divinyls released diVINYLS on Virgin Records and the single "I Touch Myself" which became their only Australian No.1 single. The song reached No. 4 in the US and No. 10 in the UK. The majority of Divinyls' hits were co-written by Amphlett and McEntee, but in this case they wrote with Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg. diVINYLS reached No. 5 on the Australian album charts and No. 15 on Billboard Top 200. |title=Divinyls at Billboard singles |website=AllMusic |year=2006 |accessdate=30 May 2008}} The drummer for the diVINYLS sessions was Charley Drayton, who became romantically involved with Amphlett: they married in July 1999, and from 2000, lived together in New York. A disagreement with Virgin Records stifled future development outside Australia where they released popular albums and achieved two more top twenty singles with "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" No. 19 in 1992 and "I'm Jealous" No. 14 in 1995. During the 1980s and 1990s Amphlett collaborated as a songwriter with other artists including Chrissie Hynde and Cyndi Lauper, and both Amphlett and McEntee worked on solo projects. A live album, Divinyls Live, was released in 1991 but Divinyls did not provide another studio album for five years. In the early 1990s they recorded a series of cover songs for various movie soundtracks, including the Young Rascals' "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), the Wild Ones' "Wild Thing" for Reckless Kelly (1993), and Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug" for Super Mario Brothers (1993). The song "I Touch Myself" caused such a controversy it had trouble getting airplay in many US-area markets; so much to the point that while performing their song live in Texas at Austin Aqua Fest 1991 the plug was pulled on the band mid-set by organisers. It wasn't until 1996 that Underworld, their fifth studio album, was released in Australia by BMG. Despite the success of diVINYLS Virgin had not kept them under contract and BMG did not release Underworld in the US. As with What A Life! they worked with three producers, beginning with Peter Collins recording "I'm Jealous" in Nashville, followed by Keith Forsey for "Sex Will Keep Us Together" and "Heart of Steel". Although "Heart of Steel" was chosen as a single, Divinyls discontinued working with Forsey because according to Amphlett "he was a bit too 'pop' for us" and remaining tracks were produced by their drummer Drayton. By the end of 1996, Amphlett and McEntee had a falling out and separated without formally disbanding Divinyls. After the separation Following Underworld, Amphlett pursued a stage career. In 1998, she played the role of Judy Garland in the Australian stage production of the life story of entertainer Peter Allen, titled The Boy from Oz. The production was a success and Amphlett's interpretation of Garland, during her final troubled years, brought her critical acclaim: she was nominated for the Helpmann Award for 'Best Female Actor in a Musical'. Amphlett and McEntee concentrated on solo projects and collaborations with other artists. Amphlett and Drayton lived in New York City from 2000, while McEntee ran a clothing label, Wheels and Doll Baby, in Perth with his partner, Melanie Greensmith. In November 2005 Amphlett published her autobiography Pleasure and Pain: My Life co-written with Larry Writer; she detailed her achievements, drug and alcohol abuse, love affairs and triumphs while a member of Divinyls. 2006: Hall of Fame and reformation On 16 August 2006, Divinyls were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and made their first performance for 10 years at the award ceremony. They reformed shortly afterwards and a compilation, Greatest Hits, was released by EMI Music Australia in August 2006. The band recorded four new songs via a satellite link: Amphlett and Drayton at Palm Studios in Las Vegas and McEntee in Perth. A single and B-side, "Don't Wanna Do This"/"Asphyxiated", was released in November 2007, with a third track, "All Pretty Things", released on a compilation album for the Homebake Festival. Amphlett stated that the band would return to the studio to record a full album provided they "survived" their Homebake headline gig and national tour. They performed during the Australian Idol grand final at the Sydney Opera House, on 25 November 2007, although their performance of "Boys in Town" (also performed by Idol winner Natalie Gauci) had to be repeated after Network Ten's transmission feed was interrupted. A national tour of Australia followed in December 2007 with a touring band featuring Drayton on drums, Jerome Smith on bass, Charlie Owen on guitar and newest member Clayton Doley on keyboards. Amphlett revealed on 7 December 2007 that she had multiple sclerosis in an interview with Richard Wilkins on Network Nine's A Current Affair—nevertheless, she was looking forward to touring with Divinyls. The next day, Divinyls headlined the Homebake music festival where Amphlett displayed an emotional fragility when attempting to get the crowd to sing along with her. In August 2009, Amphlett announced that Divinyls were finished and she had a new band in New York. Death of Amphlett and abortive reformation Aged 53 years, Amphlett died on 21 April 2013 at her home in New York City after a protracted battle with breast cancer since 2010. Amphlett stated that she had been unable to receive radiotherapy or chemotherapy as treatment for the cancer due to her multiple sclerosis. Amphlett's cousin Patricia Thompson announced the news in an official public statement: "Our beloved Chrissy peacefully made her transition this morning. Christine Joy Amphlett succumbed to the effects of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, diseases she vigorously fought with exceptional bravery and dignity." In 2014, some of Australia's leading female artists came together to cover "I Touch Myself" to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer. In 2017, the band performed a one-off show in Perth with The Preatures' Isabella Manfredi and Jack Moffit joining as guests on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, respectively. McEntee, Grossman and Harvey completed the line-up. In December 2018, McEntee announced he would be reforming the group with new singer Lauren Ruth Ward, ex-Divinyls guitarist Frank Infante and a new rhythm section for an Australian tour, to begin in 2019. This announcement, however, was criticised by Drayton and several fans as an "ultimate disrespect", with Drayton stating that anyone other than Amphlett who fronted the Divinyls should "seek some trustworthy advice".Divinyls Australian Tour 'Ultimate Disrespect' to Chrissy Amphlett. Nick Bond, news.com.au, 4 December 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018. On 6 February 2019, the Australian tour was cancelled. Band members ;Former members * Chrissy Amphlett — lead vocals (1980–1996, 2006–2009; died 2013) * Mark McEntee — guitar, backing vocals, occasional keyboards (1980–1996, 2006–2009, 2017, 2018-2019) * Bjarne Ohlin – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals (1980–1986) * Jeremy Paul – bass guitar (1980–1982) * Richard Harvey – drums (1981—1985, 2017) * Rick Grossman — bass guitar (1982–1987, 2017) * Frank Infante — guitar (1987, 2018-2019) * Charley Drayton — drums, percussion, guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals (1990–1996, 2006–2009) * Charlie Owen — guitar (1991, 2006–2009) * Jerome Smith – bass (1991, 2006–2009) * Clayton Doley — keyboards (2007–2009) * Lauren Ruth Ward — lead vocals (2018-2019) * J Cortez — bass (2018-2019) * Malcolm Clark — drums (2018-2019) ;Touring/substitute musicians * Ken Firth — bass guitar (1982) * J. J. Harris — drums (1985–1986) * Tommy "Mugs" Cain — drums (1987) * Kenny Lyon — keyboards (1987) * Matthew Hughes – keyboards, bass guitar (1987–1988) * Warren McLean – drums (1988) * Tim Millikan – bass guitar (1988) * Roger Mason – keyboards (1988–1989, 1990) * Tim Powles – drums (1989) * Benmont Tench — keyboards, Hammond organ (1990–1991) * Randy Jackson — bass guitar (1990) * Lee Borkman – keyboards, guitar (1991) * Jim Hilbun – bass guitar (1991) * Mark Meyer – drums (1991) * Duane Jarvis – guitar (1991) * Randy Wiggins – guitar (1993-1995) * Isabella Manfredi – lead vocals (2017) * Jack Moffit – guitar (2017) Timeline ImageSize = width:1000 height:600 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:30 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:06/02/2019 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:lines value:black legend:Studio albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1980 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2009 LineData = at:01/01/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1985 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1991 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Amphlett text:"Chrissy Amphlett" bar:Ward text:"Lauren Ruth Ward" bar:McEntee text:"Mark McEntee" bar:Infante text:"Frank Infante" bar:Owen text:"Charlie Owen" bar:Ohlin text:"Bjarne Ohlin" bar:Lyon text:"Kenny Lyon" bar:Mason text:"Roger Mason" bar:Tench text:"Benmont Tench" bar:Borkman text:"Lee Borkman" bar:Doley text:"Clayton Doley" bar:Paul text:"Jeremy Paul" bar:Firth text:"Ken Firth" bar:Grossman text:"Rick Grossman" bar:Hughes text:"Matthew Hughes" bar:Millikan text:"Tim Millikan" bar:Jackson text:"Randy Jackson" bar:Hilbun text:"Jim Hilbun" bar:Smith text:"Jerome Smith" bar:Cortez text:"J Cortez" bar:Harvey text:"Richard Harvey" bar:Harris text:"J.J. Harris" bar:Caine text:"Tom Caine" bar:McLean text:"Warren McLean" bar:Powles text:"Tim Powles" bar:Drayton text:"Charley Drayton" bar:Meyer text:"Mark Meyer" bar:Clark text:"Malcolm Clark" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Amphlett from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1997 color:vocals bar:Amphlett from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2009 color:vocals bar:Ward from:03/12/2018 till:06/02/2019 color:vocals bar:McEntee from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1997 color:guitar bar:McEntee from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2009 color:guitar bar:McEntee from:03/12/2018 till:06/02/2019 color:guitar bar:Ohlin from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1986 color:keyboards bar:Ohlin from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1986 color:guitar width:3 bar:Paul from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/1982 color:bass bar:Harvey from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1985 color:drums bar:Firth from:01/01/1982 till:01/12/1982 color:bass bar:Grossman from:01/12/1982 till:01/01/1987 color:bass bar:Harris from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1985 color:drums bar:Infante from:01/01/1987 till:31/12/1987 color:guitar bar:Infante from:03/12/2018 till:06/02/2019 color:guitar bar:Caine from:01/01/1987 till:31/12/1987 color:drums bar:Lyon from:01/01/1987 till:01/06/1987 color:keyboards bar:Hughes from:01/01/1987 till:31/12/1988 color:bass bar:McLean from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:drums bar:Millikan from:01/06/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:bass bar:Mason from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1989 color:keyboards bar:Mason from:01/01/1990 till:31/12/1990 color:keyboards bar:Powles from:01/01/1989 till:31/12/1989 color:drums bar:Drayton from:01/01/1990 till:31/12/1996 color:drums bar:Drayton from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2009 color:drums bar:Tench from:01/01/1990 till:31/12/1991 color:keyboards bar:Jackson from:01/01/1990 till:31/12/1990 color:bass bar:Borkman from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:keyboards bar:Hilbun from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:bass bar:Meyer from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:drums bar:Clark from:03/12/2018 till:06/02/2019 color:drums bar:Owen from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:guitar bar:Owen from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2009 color:guitar bar:Smith from:01/01/1991 till:31/12/1991 color:bass bar:Smith from:01/01/2006 till:31/12/2009 color:bass bar:Cortez from:03/12/2018 till:06/02/2019 color:bass bar:Doley from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2009 color:keyboards Discography Studio albums: *1983: Desperate *1985: What a Life! *1988: Temperamental *1991: Divinyls *1996: Underworld See also * Tony Mott References Further reading * Amphlett, Christina; Larry Writer, (November 2005). Pleasure and Pain: My Life. Sydney : Hachette Livre Australia. . * Stieven-Taylor, Alison, (15 October 2007). Rock chicks : the hottest female rockers from the 1960s to now. Sydney : Rockpool Publishing. . External links * Official MySpace page Category:APRA Award winners Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:Australian new wave musical groups Category:Australian rock music groups Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Chrysalis Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 1980 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2018 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Category:Musical groups from Sydney Category:New South Wales musical groups Category:RCA Records artists Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Pub rock musical groups